The Gift
by Secret Spy Guy
Summary: AU.  It was Rex's birthday?  All Six knew was that it had been two years since he and Rex had last charged their way into battle two years since the man had been reassigned to the duty of a simple security captain.  A lot had happened in those two years…


**Spy guy: Ahem. Just a little one-shot AU drabble of "Six minus Six" or something like that. Haven't really written for Generator Rex before, but hey, inspiration and what-not. Read and Review, and such. I would really appreciate it, fo sho. **

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><p>Providence had changed. It seemed as though new, breathtaking advancements were being made every day, small steps toward eliminating the threat of EVOs entirely. The killing had stopped. Ever since the vaccine had been discovered, the public no longer had to live with the threat of going EVO. One shot, and you were guaranteed your humanity forever.<p>

Providence no longer needed the brute, military strength it once prided itself in. It needed more scientists, more people of knowledge struggling to understand the nanites within their world. Six knew that it was a miracle he still had a job at all…maybe it was because of his former camaraderie with White Knight, or his history as a hired gun. Regardless, it was his job to keep everything running smoothly, and right now, as he walked down a hallway secreted away in the back of the complex, he was charged with returning a missing scientist to his post.

It was a good thing that Caesar Salazar was so predictable.

"Caesar, you know you're not supposed to be in this part of the complex." Six snapped. "Get back to your lab."

Caesar didn't say a word. He turned slowly, his tired eyes narrowed in what Six knew to be hatred and disgust. Caesar was a brilliant scientist, his mind brimming with new, useful advancements in technology, but the part he had played in the nanite Event, and his attachment to Rex, made him a wild card…a liability that had to be kept on a short leash.

"It's his birthday." Caesar murmured softly, slipping something into his pocket. "You won't even give me that?"

"You know the terms of your deal." Six snapped, taking a few steps forward, his hand straying to the knife at his side. "You're not allowed to see him."

"Then _here."_

Caesar reached into his pocket, and threw a small box in the agent's direction. Six caught it, his body tensing, half expecting the other man to make a move against him…but nothing happened. Caesar simply continued to stare at Six, defeat reflected plainly in his eyes.

"It was our _papi's_." He murmured, thrusting his hands into his pockets. "It's a necklace, a good luck charm, passed from Salazar to Salazar."

Six opened the box, pulling the necklace free by its sturdy gold chain. From the bottom hung a coin, crudely engraved with strange symbols that meant nothing to Six, but perhaps they held some significance for the young scientist. The agent placed the gift in the front pocket of his suit, and threw the box back to Caesar.

"Why are you giving it to him now?"

Caesar scoffed.

"It's the only thing I have left to give. It's not like I can go shopping for anything wile confined within the walls of Providence."

Six narrowed his eyes. Their conversation had gone on long enough.

"Get back to the lab, Caesar, before I drag you there myself." The agent hissed. "White Knight hasn't been getting the results he wants from you, and if you know what's good for you, you'll keep in his good graces so he doesn't send you back to that prison cell to rot."

"You don't need to remind me." The scientist growled. "I know my place."

With that, Caesar slunk down the hallway, still harboring that limp he'd received whilst trying to flee the compound. Caesar was always finding new ways to get away from his keepers, but the first, and only time he had tried to run away had ended in disaster. He hadn't attempted it again—his limp acting as a constant reminder of his failure—but that didn't mean he wouldn't occasionally turn up in places where he didn't belong.

Six waited until the man was out of sight, before removing the coin from his pocket, turning it deftly in his fingers. It was Rex's birthday? How old would he be now? Seventeen? Eighteen? Only Caesar would know for sure. All Six knew was that it had been two years since he and Rex had last charged their way into battle, two years since the man had been reassigned to the duty of a simple security captain. A lot had happened in those two years…a lot had changed.

"_Six…what is White up to? You'd tell me right?"_

Rex's pained voice echoed unbidden through Six's mind. He could still see the fear on the young EVO's face, the fear he tried so hard to mask behind false bravado. Contrary to what White Knight thought, Rex wasn't stupid. He was as smart as a whip, just as intelligent as his brother, and capable of advanced planning and battle tactics. Rex had picked up on White Knight's plotting early on, but he hadn't wanted to believe it. Providence was his home, his family, and when he needed someone to trust, he had put his faith in Six…

Six hated how he had failed him

Clutching the necklace in his fist, the agent made up his mind, walking quietly to the door where he knew the EVO would be.

He wasn't supposed to…no one was supposed to, but Six didn't really care. It was his fault that all of this had happened…because he had put his job before loyalty. He had broken Rex's trust, and it ate away at him every day.

"_That boy is a ticking time bomb. You saw what he did to that warehouse! If he is not controlled soon, then I'm going to have to take drastic measures." _

"_Six…the nanites…I can control them now. I swear I can. This—this won't happen again. SIX!"_

Six swiped his access card, opening the door.

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><p>The room was lit by a dim, blue light slowly pulsing with the heartbeat of its source…Rex. Six carefully shut the door behind him, taking a few cautious steps into the room, his eyes straying to the boy hunched over on a broken down cot.<p>

"Rex?" He called.

The boy turned to him, moving carefully, so as not to pull at the wires jutting from the skin of his arms and neck. A maze of nanite circuitry ran over his flesh, glowing through the thin white material of his clothing, acting as the only lighting in the room.

"Six?" The EVO said. "Is that really you?"

Six didn't reply right away. He couldn't. He hadn't been to see Rex since… a long time. He almost didn't recognize the boy. His once tanned skin was sallow, his eyes dull and dark, set deep into a skeletal face. And the wires…the nanite growths that had taken over his limbs, holding him in their cruel, damning embrace…

He _looked_ like an EVO.

"Does it hurt?" Six found himself saying, unable to tear his eyes away from the boy's affliction. Rex shifted—tenderly, the agent noted—and shrugged.

"It doesn't bother me, unless I move too much. No crazy stunts anymore though."

He laughed, a hollow joyless sound that rasped in his throat. Six quirked an eyebrow at the young man, standing stiffly in the center of the room. Even after all this time, the agent could still tell when Rex was lying. Maybe it was just a skill he had acquired as an assassin, but it felt _deeper_ somehow. Once, they had been like father and son…

"Don't lie to me."

At that, Rex's face darkened and he turned away.

"Okay, yeah It hurts. How do you _think_ it feels when _metal wires_ poke through your skin? It's like they're grafted to my bones, and nothing Holiday's tried has made it any better." He wrapped his arms carefully around his body, and closed his eyes. "If anything, it's gotten worse…"

"But the cure—"

"The cure didn't work!" Rex shouted, his body tensing, fingers digging into the remains of the human flesh on his arms. "Don't you think she tried that? Once they got the final serum through testing, Holiday brought a sample of it here. I was so excited. I thought…"

"That If you weren't an evo anymore, White Knight would let you out."

The boy nodded.

"I'm here because I'm a danger." Rex whispered. "I'm here because of what I almost did to all those people. If the nanties weren't active…"

He scoffed.

"Forget it. It's not like you care anyways."

Six wanted to say that he _did_ care. He'd always cared…but he kept his mouth shut. How could he prove that to Rex now, after what he'd done? His words would mean nothing to the young Evo; empty assurances that would only make him feel worse. If Six ever wanted to regain his trust, it would have to be slowly, gradually.

The necklace in his pocket was a heavy weight on his body. He knew what he had to do.

"I'm sorry, Rex." He said, turning toward the door. "None of this was supposed to happen." With that, he exited the room, leaving the evo behind to wallow in the darkness alone.

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><p>Caesar was usually confined to a small laboratory near the prison block, left to work and tinker with whatever project White Knight had assigned him. The room was usually filled with stray machinery parts, discarded tools, and occasionally a caged lower-class evo for experimentation. Six couldn't deny that Caesar was brilliant, but he'd always known that the man was an unpredictable danger to Providence. Maybe…if he hadn't let Caesar use that machine on Rex…if he hadn't let it get so far—<p>

"_I need to remember, Six. I want to know who I am."_

But, all that was said and done. One had taught him that dwelling on the past was useless. He had to live in the present, day to day, and he couldn't let this guilt continue to weigh him down. Entering Caesar's lab, Six pulled the necklace from his pocket, standing in silence as the scientist scratched the chin of a small cat-like Evo perched on his shoulder. The creature purred like a broken motor, its razor claws digging into the fabric of Caesar's shirt as it rubbed its scaly face against the man's cheek.

"Her name is Bonita." The scientist said when he noticed Six's stare. "She's sentient, like those humanoid evos you rooted out in Hong Kong."

"Like Rex?"

Caesar's face fell, and he carefully pulled Bonita from his shoulder, cradling her in his arms.

"What do you want, Six?"

The agent threw the necklace in Caesar's direction, and the man caught it in his hand, eyes never straying from Six's face.

"I take it that you have ways of getting into his room?"

Stunned, Caesar nodded, lowering Bonita to the floor.

"Are you—"

"Just go." Six snapped. "I won't try to stop you, but I can't protect you if you get caught."

"Thank you." Caesar whispered. "Really. Thank you. This will mean a lot to him."

Six huffed, turning on his heel, leaving the lab. He'd have to make himself scarce for the rest of the day, lest White Knight try to chew him out. Maybe he'd go take a walk around the city.

Maybe he'd pick up his own present for Rex.

**The End. **


End file.
